Austal Seedlings

Keeping the garden growing and looking fantastic takes a lot of hard work.


We are going to make this page our resource for planning and ordering our crops.
Our supplier of seedlings is http://www.australseedlings.com.au/
We can order online or from this order form

Planning out what we grow and when is our current challenge. Once this is established we can sort out the crops best started by seed and the ones we can order as seedlings.

Term 1 - (summer)

NOTE- General garden clean up after holidays- spent crops taken out and soil worked over before next crop.

lettuce- try lettuce from seeds. (lettuce is a good fund raiser for us) (started seeds early in green house and grew really well but does take about 10 weeks till ready to harvest from)
parsley (have started seeds in green house but taking 2 terms to grow large enough to plant out- better to buy seedlings if need a good crop)
beetroot (bought seedlings term 1 and still harvesting term 3 will try seeds term 3 to see how long they take)
silverbeet (bought seedlings will try seeds term 3 to see how long they take)
cabbage (bought a tray of red still growing into term 3 - we have too many! they take up a lot of space will try seeds next time)
leeks/spring onions (bought tray ready to harvest term 3- trying seeds too started term 2)
beans from seeds (used saved seeds- good result)
snow peas from seeds (buy sugar snap to avoid mold)
pak choi (got a tray, good seller to raise money need to stager planting though harvest mid- end term 2)
Term 2 - (autumn)
carrots start seeds in bed (didn't do this this year)
parsnip start seeds in bed (seeds didn't take well- not a good crop for our needs)
radish start seeds in bed (tried white raddish nice mild flavour grows very easy)
turnips start seeds in bed (did do this going well take about a term till harvest though)

broccoli- blue pride (got a tray but lost some due to watering failure and rabbits, enough for café though)
cauliflower- boris (got a few from bunnings)
cabbage - chinese little chief (didn't get this year)
leeks- captain (started seeds)
lettuce lobella (green butter) started a second batch of seeds
spring onions Zulu (started seeds)
pak choi (seeds started direct in bed see how they go)

kohlrabi (grows well but hard to get people using it and eating it. tried seeds end of term)
broad beans (seeds started early in term)
potatoes get seed potatoes (plant after frost end term 2 early term 3- takes 100-129 days)
Harvest sweet potato (leave some to re-crop) (leave to cure for 6 weeks before eating)

Term 3 (winter and start of spring)

beans (seed) direct plant early in term good results
cucumber - seeds started end term 3 planted out early term 4 cropped well but lost a lot that were planted out late term 4
zucchini- seeds started end term 3 planted out early term 4 (cropped well)
Rubex and jade lettuce we got a tray of each (red not very popular) plant term 3 not term 4 as gets waisted.
make sure enough in garden if not purchase seedlings

plain leaf parsley check stock and purchase if needed end of term

2013 NOTE- end term 3 bought 2 trays lettuce/beetroot/basil/tomatoes/eggplant
made salad bowl fundraiser basil, lettuce, parsley, overgrowing after holidays need to plant later.

Term 4 spring and summer)

Basil Genoveser ( bought tray planted out well early term 4)
climbing beans seeds planted early term 4 but lost most over holidays
corriander (slow bolt) was not available
elite cherry tomato purchased tray planted out in green house and straight in garden through term 4 cropped very well but over holiday.
summer sun was not available
eggplant Lisbon tray purchased (too many) planted out and grew well over holidays and beyond maybe plant closer to end of term.
plain leaf parsley few parsley purchased planted late term 4
silver beet purchased some and planted end term 4
chilli (couple of seedlings planted) Try from seeds term 3 or buy seedlings from bunnings
cos lettuce (Tamara mini) purchased and planted out last week- grew fast not worth planting till term 1 or mid holidays)
capsicum (long variety works better for us- a few seedlings purchased that came on in holidays and beyond planted last few weeks) from bunnings
beetroot (seedlings purchased) planted early term 4 grew well ready for harvest term 1
squash seeds
corn - takes 80days from seeds (planted straight out some mid term and the rest in the last week - earlier crop came on in holidays)
pumpkin seeds (seeds started early term 4 and planted out last week of term) some seedlings also purchased.
watermelon (seeds started early term 4 and planted out last week of term) some seedlings also purchased.
rockmelon (seeds started early term 4 and planted out last week of term) some seedlings also purchased.
honeydew (seeds started early term 4 and planted out last week of term)
snow peas- seeds started in green house end term 4 ready for planting term 1

NOTE- some broccoli and cauliflower were planted but were lost over the holidays not worth planting too many bugs when not monitoring.
The bits and pieces of seedlings were from a mixed tray bought week 7 for $60.00 (not sure if worth it given the loss over the break) Make sure seeds are started in green house ready for planting late term 4

Crops to add this year- blue berries, pineapples, oranges, kiwi fruit.



Other expenses.

St Marys sand and soil- garden mix $44 ton plus $22 delivery. We need 2 ton so $110. {not needed right now as soil from last delivery still there)
Need powerfeed - $120 from Austral to feed seedlings in green house from time to time. (got a organic one instead from Austral for $85.00.}
$17.00 from bunnings for pest infestations
Seed raising mix $7.00 bought and used as needed for planting up seeds. (don’t need to add fertiliser to it but do need to add fertiliser to the load of soil outside the fence if using for seed raising)
Osmocote $12.00 fertiliser added to soil outside the gate.
$26.00 sugar cane mulch will need to put on over the winter approx. 7 bags. $182.00. Will need to re do in summer.
$10 small frames for climbing crops. Great for bathtubs and safer than stakes that end up all over the garden.
gumboots for students to wear when muddy. $20.00


Possible Seating options

Grouped seating options would make a significant difference to strategic class management in the garden.

$199 seats 5 or 6. This one goes around a tree but we could use it with an umbrella base and umbrella when needed. It would be good positioned on the wood chips next to herb spiral outside the kitchen.
$399 7 piece setting would be good set up near the banana trees so classes could have lunch or assemble for a more structured lesson.
$179 3 piece setting also set up near banana trees. With the two settings most classes could sit here comfortably, allowing room for student separation if needed.
$47 Alternatively these settings are cheaper but would deteriorate quicker and are much lighter so would end up migrating around the garden instead of staying set up for classes.